Proverbs 21:20–26 – Needful attitudes to right living

The difference between the wise and foolish, the “have” and the “have-not’s”, is in the arena of their attitudes. Zig Ziglar, the motivational teacher said, “Your attitude, not your aptitude, determines your altitude.” And long before Ziglar coined this wise quip, God had already revealed so. Through Proverbs 21:20-26, He tells us why we need to have a set of right attitudes. It is having and living with the right attitudes that we can attain an outstanding life.

Proverbs 21:20 says we need to have a right attitude toward wealth. The wise preserve what they have whereas the foolish tend to squander it. Here, we are reminded to be wise stewards of the wealth we have. A person who stewards his wealth wisely safeguards what he has. The foolish on the other hand wastes all that he has through lavish and careless living, leaving nothing for a rainy day.

Proverbs 21:21 says we need right attitudes to pursue a fulfilled life. Making righteous and faithful goals in our life journey, we will attain a meaningful, righteous and honorable life. They must be the guiding principles of our daily living. The word pursue suggests that we make them a quest of life. And we do so by passionately cultivating righteousness and faithfulness with discipline.

Proverbs 21:22 says we need a right attitude towards work. We are advised not only to work hard but also to work smart. It is wisdom and not physical strength alone that will help us to achieve great things. With wisdom we can strategize and prioritize our activities in life. We know how to place the important over the mundane. Failing to plan is planning to fail. Bear in mind that good is the enemy of the best. Yes, we need physical strength, but by it alone is inadequate to help us scale great heights. We must mix hard work with wisdom to achieve great goals.  

Proverbs 21:23 says we need a right attitude towards speech. We must learn to guard our words. Careless and thoughtless words can get us into needless trouble. How often have we seen people saying a wrong word and regret it all their life? It is said that “Silence is as deep as eternity and speech is as shallow as time.” To avoid trouble, decide what to say before we say it.

  

Proverbs 21:24 says we need a right attitude towards relationship. A prideful and haughty attitude is damning to life. Such an attitude is overbearing. People with such high and mighty mentality tend to mock and belittle others. Besides they are unable to take correction. They will ridicule those who dare to point out their flaws. They are made poorer by such an attitude.     

Proverbs 21:25 says having a right attitude will make us shun laziness. Work is never the longing of a lazy person. Without work, one will have no means to survive. His laziness will eventually kill him. Whereas Proverbs 21:26 says having a right attitude will help us to shun greed. Being greedy can cause one to hoard goods selfishly. It’s adopting the attitude of “grabbing all you can, then can all you’ve grabbed and sit in the can.”  We all have desire and longings in life but we must learn to re-channel our longings to God. When we direct our longings toward God, the source of all we have, we will find a greater release for all that we need. Let’s seek the giver and not just the gift.